Error using xlswrite. Invalid sheet name '1'.

Hi! I am writting to see if you can help me with a strange issue that appeared me without any explanation...

I would like to use the xlswrite function this way:

data     = 1:2;
filename = 'file.xlsx';
xlswrite(filename,data)

And I don't know why, I get this error:

Error using xlswrite (line 219)
Invalid sheet name '1'. Sheet names cannot exceed 31 characters and cannot contain any of these characters:
':  / ? * [ ]'.

Does that make sense? I am not setting any kind of sheet name and it is complaining about it. So, looking to the help xlswrite menu I can see that the ARRAY field should be a cell, not a double. Ok, so changing this does not make the difference either...

I have also tried to use the activeX way to create a excel file and everything works fine, but it is quite tedious to make my own "xlswrite" function... I would like to know how to solve this problem with xlswrite.

Could you help me?

Thanks! Andres Fonts

[EDIT] Solved! The xlswrite function was corrupted. There was a code error in line 258.

Answer 1

[Jan]

This is a strange problem and does not occur on my computer. This can mean, that one of this happens on your machine:

• Your xlswrite function is damaged. Do you have write permissions to the toolbox folders?
• A function called by xlsread is damaged or shadowed by a user defined function. Do you append the folders with your functions on the bottom of the path and not on the top?
• filename is an existing file with a forbidden sheet name already. Then it would be the question, how this file was created, but this might not concern Matlab. If so, try to rename the sheet in Excel.
• Anything weird happens. :-) Use the debugger to examine this: set a breakpoint in the failing line and check the name of the sheet. Using double(SheetName) reveals non-printable characters.

[Andres Fonts]

Hi Jan! Thanks for answering!

I could see that there was no non-printable characters.

So, debugging the xlswrite file I found this line (line 258):

CL            [theMessage, TargetSheet, visibility] = activate_sheet(Excel,sheet);ç

So, this 'CL' element here is quite strange, isn't it? When it arrives to this point, it goes to line 219 to throw the sheet name error.

I removed 'CL' from this line, and now it works as always!

Thanks Jan! I did not think that maybe the xlswrite function was corrupted :)

[Jan]

:-) Obviously my new crystal ball works as advertised.

I never run Matlab with admin privileges to avoid modifying Matlab's toolbox functions by accident. When I work in a multi-monitor setup, I sometimes loose the contact to the window, which has the keyboard focus. When I then start typing, characters are inserted without intention. But without admin privileges I cannot save these files later on.

[Mathias Marley]

I got this exact same error. In line 258 I found:

sstartupA09 [theMessage, TargetSheet, visibility] = activate_sheet(Excel,sheet);

sst... is similar to a command I often write in the command window. Somehow I must have opened xlswrite, started typing the command, and saved!

Answer 2

[Gabriel Delcros]

You may have to try :

xlswrite ('file.xlsx', data)

If file is already created, he would find it. Or put the path ;)

[Andres Fonts]

Hi Gabriel, Thanks for answering, but what you are suggesting does not make any difference, I still have the same error. And including or excluding the path does not make the difference either...

I have also tried to create first the file and then execute xlswrite ('file.xlsx', data) and still having the error.

Thanks anyway

Answer 3

[Gabriel Delcros]

Oh I know, there is a problem with your data. It does not make sens to him.

Try data = [1:2];

[Stephen23]

Because the [] is a concatenation operator, doing

 data = [1:2]

concatenates exactly one thing (a vector) with nothing else, so is equivalent to this:

 data = 1:2;

Many beginners get confused by the fact that [] is not a "list" operator (MATLAB has not variable type "list"). The unnecessary use of square brackets has been discussed on this forum several time:

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/35676-why-not-use-square-brackets

MATLAB beginners should also learn how to check equivalence using isequal:

>> data1 = 1:2
data1 =
   1   2
>> data2 = [1:2]
data2 =
   1   2
>> isequal(data1,data2)
ans =  1

[Jan]

See also: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/35676-why-not-use-square-brackets

[Andres Fonts]

Thanks again Gabriel, but data=1:2 is correct.